Montréal’s First-Ever Affordable Student Housing Building Breaks Ground
Montréal, April 17, 2019 — UTILE broke ground today on Woodnote, Montréal’s first-ever affordable student housing building. The $18-million project will house 144 students in 90 units ranging in size from a studio to four bedrooms. Today’s announcement by the Honorable Jean-Yves Duclos that the CMHC’s Affordable Housing Innovation Fund will contribute $3 million underscores the project’s innovative funding model, which relies on a wide variety of partners.
The project is able to move forward thanks to a $1.85-million contribution from Concordia University’s undergraduate student union (CSU). Ville de Montréal is also backing the project with a $1.6-million contribution, announced in fall 2018.
Additional funding is being provided by various partners and actors in the field of social finance:
● Caisse d’économie solidaire: $7 million
● Fonds d’investissement pour logement étudiant (FILE): $3 million
● Fiducie du Chantier de l’économie sociale: $1.5 million
● Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ: $500,000
● Desjardins: $200,000
● Concordia University: $150,000
● Le-Plateau-Mont-Royal borough: A $300,000 exemption from the contribution for the purpose of a park
● Réseau d’investissement social du Québec (RISQ): $100,000
“Given that Montréal is at risk for a housing crisis, UTILE has developed innovative solutions to build more affordable housing,” said Laurent Levesque, the organization’s executive coordinator. “With the support of all our partners, we’re determined to increase the supply of student housing such as Woodnote in Montréal and elsewhere in Canada,” he added.
Unité de travail pour l’implantation de logement étudiant (UTILE) is a social economy enterprise founded in 2013. Its mission is to develop, study and promote affordable housing for students in Québec using the co-op model.